Bullville Fire District board votes down building plan

Friday

Jun 6, 2014 at 2:00 AMJun 6, 2014 at 11:02 AM

BULLVILLE — Fire district commissioners voted down their own plan to build an $8.6 million firehouse after vociferous opposition from the community regarding concerns that a swanky building would double the fire tax.

Hema Easley

BULLVILLE — Fire district commissioners voted down their own plan to build an $8.6 million firehouse after vociferous opposition from the community regarding concerns that a swanky building would double the fire tax.

A referendum was scheduled for June 17 on an $8.6 million bond to be paid back in 30 years. Thursday's vote canceled it.

"We thought long and hard," Bruce Guttenplan, chairman of the five-member Board of Commissioners of the Bullville Fire District, said before a crowd of about 60 people gathered for a public information session at the firehouse.

"It's my opinion we not have the vote on June 17 and we go back to the drawing board," a chastened Guttenplan said. "We got an education. We listened."

Three other commissioners agreed with him. The fourth, Tim Schneider, wanted to scrap the entire plan for a new building.

The decision surprised opponents who had gathered to oppose what they said was excessive spending by the small fire district. The 50-member fire company covers an area of 12 square miles that has a population of 2,800. It responded to approximately 115 calls in 2013.

"It was a lot of effort to find out the ultimate result, that it was way too much money for a small rural fire company," said John Lunney, president of the fire company. "I don't know what their thinking was."

Rank-and-file firefighters in Bullville have been opposed to the new firehouse because, like other property owners, they fear their taxes will go up. They had printed fliers urging residents to vote "No" to the plan, set up an opposition website, urged residents to put "Vote No" yard signs.

The fire district has been trying to build a new home for many years because the existing firehouse on Route 17K has a contaminated well. But the fire company would rather build a new well and expand their existing facility.

The dispute worsened after the commissioners announced a plan to build a 17,625-square-foot firehouse, three times the size of the current building, for $8.6 million. Debt servicing on the 30-year life of the bond would have been $550,000.

Fire commissioners have acknowledged that fire taxes for property owners would go up by at least $3.70 per $1,000 in assessed value. Critics put it at $4.31 per $1,000. The current tax is $3.66.

Fran Galloway, a local resident who had actively campaigned against the proposal, said her fire tax would rise from $460 a year to $1,020. The fire district estimated if the bond was approved, the fire taxes of a home assessed at $200,000 would go up by $62.07 a month or $745.84 a year.